Greylock Appoints New Member of Board of Directors

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Greylock Federal Credit Union has announced the selection of Kimberly A. Mathews as the newest member of the credit union’s volunteer Board of Directors.

Mathews replaces outgoing director J. Paul Dube who retired after serving 50 years on the board. Mathews’ term began April 21.

“We salute Paul and thank him for his extraordinary service to Greylock," Board Chairperson, Gerard E. Burke said. "We welcome Kim and look forward to having someone with her legal and financial background as the newest member of our volunteer board. In a changing financial environment, a diversity of talents and expertise is essential for our volunteer Board. Kim will certainly contribute to our efforts with the experience and perspectives she brings to the team.”

Mathews has served as senior vce president and general counsel at Legacy Bancorp in Pittsfield; general counsel at Developer Finance Corporation in Williamstown; associate attorney at Bacon & Wilson, P.C. in Springfield; and vice president and general counsel at Lenox HealthCare, Inc. in Lenox.

Mathews graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire and earned a J.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Law. She was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1996. Mathews serves on the boards of the Elizabeth Freeman Center, Suit YourSelf, Dalton Community Recreation Association, and St. Agnes Academy. She also volunteers for the Berkshire Center for Justice and has been accepted to the Master of Social Work program at Simmons School of Social Work beginning in September.

 


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State Fire Marshal: New Tracking Tool Identifies 50 Lithium-Ion Battery Fires

STOW, Mass. — The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services' new tool for tracking lithium-ion battery fires has helped to identify 50 such incidents in the past six months, more than double the annual average detected by a national fire data reporting system, said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine.
 
The Department of Fire Services launched its Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Investigative Checklist on Oct. 13, 2023. It immediately went into use by the State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal's office, and local fire departments were urged to adopt it as well. 
 
Developed by the DFS Fire Safety Division, the checklist can be used by fire investigators to gather basic information about fires in which lithium-ion batteries played a part. That information is then entered into a database to identify patterns and trends.
 
"We knew anecdotally that lithium-ion batteries were involved in more fires than the existing data suggested," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "In just the past six months, investigators using this simple checklist have revealed many more incidents than we've seen in prior years."
 
Prior to the checklist, the state's fire service relied on battery fire data reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS), a state-level tool that mirrors and feeds into the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). NFIRS tracks battery fires but does not specifically gather data on the types of batteries involved. Some fields do not require the detailed information that Massachusetts officials were seeking, and some fires may be coded according to the type of device involved rather than the type of battery. Moreover, MFIRS reports sometimes take weeks or months to be completed and uploaded.
 
"Investigators using the Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Checklist are getting us better data faster," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "The tool is helpful, but the people using it are the key to its success."
 
From 2019 to 2023, an average of 19.4 lithium-ion battery fires per year were reported to MFIRS – less than half the number identified by investigators using the checklist over the past six months. The increase since last fall could be due to the growing number of consumer devices powered by these batteries, increased attention by local fire investigators, or other factors, State Fire Marshal Davine said. For example, fires that started with another item but impinged upon a battery-powered device, causing it to go into thermal runaway, might not be categorized as a battery fire in MFIRS or NFIRS.
 
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